What is a Better Indicator of Success: Attitude or Experience?

attitude or experience

“Attitude is everything. Would you rather have an employee with great skill and a poor attitude or one with average skill and a great attitude? Skills can be learned. Attitude can be changed, but it is much more difficult … People with positive attitudes are winners. They think positively. The words ‘don’t’ and ‘can’t’ are not in their vocabulary.”

When you are in the process of hiring a candidate to fill an open job, what is more important to their long-term success: their experience or their attitude?

In the thoughts stated above by author Tom Northrup, who wrote Five Hidden Mistakes CEOs Make: How to Unlock the Secrets that Drive Growth & Profitability, you can substitute the word “experience” for “skill” … because the two go virtually hand in hand. And, when it comes down to making a final hiring decision, opt for attitude.

Attitude over Aptitude

The benefits of hiring for attitude over experience, skills and aptitude include:

  • You become a coach, facilitator and mentor as you train a new hire and develop them as part of your effective team.
  • You can mould an employee as you teach them how to execute job duties using your preferred methods.
  • You can delegate tasks and duties with more confidence.

Hiring based only on experience could cause a potentially great employee to slip through the cracks of your system. Audrey McLaughlin, RN of PhysciansPracticeExpert.com adds these words of advice:

“Look for candidates with a positive attitude over aptitude. Many skills and technical aspects of a position are fairly simple to teach a person. It is much more difficult to change a person’s attitude. Look for people who are active listeners. This can be assessed in the interview process, or even over the phone. People who pay attention, nod in understanding, and follow through with tasks you request during the hiring process fall into this category.”

Virtually every job has tests to assess technical proficiency. But what you can’t test – or determine by checking references – is whether a candidate is motivated to learn new skills, think innovatively, work as part of a team, communicate effectively or cope with failure. That’s where the right attitude comes strongly into play.

Credit: TRCStaffing.com

customer service

4 Simple ways to boost your customer service

customer service

Effective customer service can help improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, increase positive word-of-mouth marketing about your brand and consequently can help lead to a boost in customers and conversions.

No matter the form your customer service takes, you can take it to the next level (and hopefully retain more customers) with the following strategies;

1. Extend empathy

The goal of customer service isn’t simply to fix a problem. It is also to provide a positive experience that will elevate the perception of your brand in customers’ eyes. Empathy helps you do just that by connecting with customers on a personal level. In doing so, you establish a human touch that no marketing or advertising campaign could ever match.

2. Practice patience

One of the most effective ways to boost your team’s capacity for patience is to train them to separate their personal feelings from the situation. As a customer service rep, it’s easy to feel like an angry customer is upset with you personally and this can put you on the slippery slope toward lashing out.

Team members should work to remember that the customer’s feelings don’t have anything to do with them as individuals. Doing so will provide the space necessary to remain level-headed no matter what.

3. Communicate clearly

Crystal-clear communication is critical for any customer service interaction, but it becomes even more pressing if the customer service experience isn’t happening face-to-face. Don’t assume you understand what the client is asking, instead, articulate your understanding of their problem and desired solution so you can make sure you’re both on the same page before moving on to resolving the issue. You want to confirm that you’re both still on the same page. Don’t move on until you both understand where things stand.

4. Follow up effectively

It’s easy to feel like solving a customer’s issue marks the end of the interaction. But it’s important to follow up with customers afterwards to see how they’re faring and to confirm that they aren’t experiencing any residual issues.

Doing so conveys to your customers that the investment you expressed during your interaction was heartfelt and that your company remains committed to their experience. Even if nothing needs to be fixed, following up provides you with an opportunity to ask for feedback about how your customer service could be further improved.

Credit: Dan Scalco

how to manage time efficiently

How to Manage Time Efficiently

 

Time management is the ability to use one’s time effectively or productively, especially at work. But this is easier said than done. This is the beginning of a new year and we must have set out goals that we hope to achieve before the year ends. Yet, there are a lot of things competing for our time and attention every minute around us. How do we manage our time well in order to hit our targets for the year?

Why is it important to manage our time wisely?

  • Prevents energy waste
  • Relieves pressure
  • More time for other things
  • More opportunities
  • Leaves time for rest
  • Goals realization

How to manage time efficiently

how to manage time efficiently

1. Set goals correctly. Make sure your goals are S.M.A.R.T: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

2. Prioritize wisely. Set tasks based on their importance and urgency.

3. Set a time limit to complete a task. Decide what time to allot to different tasks and be disciplined to meet your time target.

4. Take a break between tasks to regain strength and focus.

5. Organize yourself. Keep a schedule of your activities.

6. Remove non-essential tasks/activities based on your priority list above. Don’t perform tasks that can be conveniently outsourced.

7. Plan ahead. Have a to-do list.

The implication of poor time management is waste of time, energy and other valuable resources. What more? The pressure of never meeting a deadline might adversely affect your health and productivity. Save yourself all these woes and learn time management.